


Broken Glass and Shattered Porcelain

by no_shit_Sherlock



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone named from all the dojos will be there at some point, Gen, Medical Inaccuracies, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, but that's pretty standard canon anyways, but the language definitely isn't as bad as the show itself, kreese being an asshole?, more characters will be added as it goes on, plus a few... potentially familiar faces, use of profanity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29812134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_shit_Sherlock/pseuds/no_shit_Sherlock
Summary: A month has passed since the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang Dojos have combined and Hawk still feels like he has a debt to repay to the Miyagi-Do side of things. Frankly, he doesn't think he'll ever get over the guilt he feels for what he's done. But when Mr. LaRusso requests help in getting supplies from the local hardware store, Hawk jumps at the chance to give his newest sensei any reason to trust him.But naturally, things can never be that easy.
Relationships: I guess technically the ones that are canon at the end of season 3... but none of them will matter, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever I watch something I start to think about multiple stories for it. It was only when the draft of this thing was getting close to hitting twenty pages that I was like "hmm, maybe I might as well post it since I haven't banished it out of my brain yet". This chapter is the first 4 pages, so updates will be relatively constant for the first few chapters...
> 
> The title feels unnecessarily wordy but IDK what else I could call it. You should be able to get why I called it that by the end of this chapter.
> 
> The story will stick with Hawk for now, but I have some places in mind for where it'll be going where it can expand to other characters, as there are quite a few of them that I find interesting. As with my other stories, I might reference a canonical relationship if it matters to the plot at some point, but for the most part there will be no relationships as I don't like to write romance.
> 
> Please do tell me if I include anything triggering that isn't tagged! There is a decent amount of cursing, but definitely not anything too bad.

Of all the students in Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, Hawk was the most surprised when he volunteered himself to go get supplies to make shelves for the LaRusso house. It had been about a month since the fight there, and while the house itself had been patched up, some parts required extra attention that Daniel LaRusso hadn’t found a way to fit into the training schedule. Notably, some of their display spaces that had been smashed through.

Hawk believed that even though that house fight had been the one time he hadn’t wanted to start something with Miyagi-Do—Kyler just had to try his stupid meowing cat gambit—he had still greatly contributed to the mess that was the LaRusso’s house. If he was supposed to be building bridges, he might as well start by literally building a bookshelf or two. He’d been wanting to do something to prove himself for a while now, so he might as well jump on the opportunity to offer any assistance he was able.

Mr. LaRusso picked him and Demetri up directly after school, his friend begrudgingly deciding to come along at Sam’s insistence that Hawk and her dad shouldn’t be alone. Mr. LaRusso wasn’t actually coming into the store with them; but he would be dropping them off, picking them up a half hour later—when a meeting he had for the dealership was over—and then taking them to training. Hawk did question if making the shelves would eat into the typical training schedule, having intended to offer himself up to do it while everyone else did normal training. But then Demetri informed him that the housework would probably be incorporated into training somehow. Even a month in Hawk wasn’t entirely on board with the idea of chores as karate lessons, but if they could make  _ Demetri  _ a competent fighter, there had to be something to it.

On the way to the store, Mr. LaRusso talked through some interesting stories of his past. Ones that Hawk saw parts of himself in. Specifically Mr. LaRusso brought up something he’d mentioned to the others in Miyagi-Do some time ago, that the golden child himself had been in Cobra Kai. That had to be the biggest plot twist Hawk heard over the duration of the karate war. Mr. LaRusso mentioned knowing he had reached his breaking point when he literally broke a kid’s nose, and Hawk couldn’t help but think of the time he’d fucked up his best friend's arm. Even so, Demetri had been the first person to accept him back, and damn that made him feel even shittier. To think their feud started with a stupid Yelp review.

They ran into traffic on the way to the store so Mr. LaRusso gave them an expanded version of the story, including John Kreese’s direct role in it. Also these two other guys, but once his former sensei was mentioned, Hawk completely forgot about them. Demetri listened intently with wide eyes, having also not heard this portion. When Mr. LaRusso finished, Hawk just had to ask.

“Does Sensei Lawrence know about any of that?”

“I don’t think so. He doesn’t seem to know who Terry Silver and Mike Barnes are, and I doubt Kreese mentioned any of it to him.” Mr. LaRusso said, “Why do you ask?”

“Because if Johnny had told me even a sliver of that,” Hawk said. “I would have left Cobra Kai the day Kreese first walked through the door. There were hints, sure his constant war analogies could be kind of intense." At which point Demetri snorted. Hawk decided to ignore him and continued, "But after that story? The man is straight up  _ psychotic _ .”

Mr. LaRusso laughed, “Who knew it would have been so easy.” 

“Well a lot of conflict in film tends to stem from miscommunication,” Demetri said, thinking through the numerous plots that could have been solved with a phone call or brunch. “Only makes sense that some of that would be due to its parallel in everyday life… Not that I’d qualify a Vietnam Vet producing what amounts to douchey child soldiers in a strip mall dojo as everyday life.”

_ Well, when Demetri says it like that… _ Hawk thought. That had been the end of their car ride conversation.

* * *

“Here we are.” Mr. LaRusso said as they pulled in front of the store. He looked through a notebook and tore out a list of items. “Okay, here’s the shopping list. I’ll be back in thirty minutes flat, so if you finish early just wait for me at checkout. It’s my card that everything’s going on after all and no offense, but I’m not letting either of you hold onto that.”

Mr. LaRusso’s gaze was directed at Hawk as he said that, which was hurtful but… understandable… to say the least. Even as Hawk reached for the list, Mr. LaRusso handed it to Demetri, and the two teens got out of the car. They watched as Mr. LaRusso drove away, and then walked inside the store.

Demetri frowned down at the list and up at the aisles a few times, before Hawk eventually just snatched it out of his hand and started walking.

“What, knowing your way around a place like this was part of Cobra Kai’s training regime?”

“Nah,” Hawk said. “But one of the members was an employee here for a bit. So we messed around while waiting for him to get off the clock. Learned the layout.”

“Whatever. What’s the plan for getting the supplies?”

“You go get this shade of paint mixed and the other paint crap, while I go get the other things.” Hawk pointed at the detailed paint shade number listed on the supply list. “The line’s always long here for it and there’s no point in us both waiting.” Demetri rolled his eyes, but accepted the ripped off portion of the shopping list.

“See you in thirty, try not to get lost.” Demetri called as he walked towards the giant ‘Paint’ sign. Hawk waved him off and headed deeper into the store.

Turned out Demetri didn’t have to be worried about that, as Hawk didn't make it too far in. At the end of an aisle, Hawk froze upon seeing two people walking in his direction. Kreese and Tory were talking about something he couldn’t hear, and seemingly—hopefully—hadn’t seen him yet. Hawk immediately ducked down the aisle he was next to—lamps and light bulbs. The aisle had caution tape stretched across for he assumed construction, though he didn’t care for the moment. Tory he could deal with, but Kreese as well was asking for more trouble than even Hawk was willing to put himself in. He jumped at the sound of his phone buzzing and paused to check it, wondering if Demetri had also spotted Kreese.

**From: Demetri**

**You weren’t joking when you said this line was long. I’m practically back outside the store. Maybe I should call Mr. LaRusso and tell him we’re going to need two extra hours, at least.**

Hawk thought about whether or not to let Demetri know about seeing Kreese in the store. If he did, Demetri could call Mr. LaRusso, and they could just avoid his ex-sensei until his current sensei got there. But if he did, Demetri would probably freak out and end up alerting Kreese and Tory that they were there alone. He decided it was best not to risk letting Demetri know. To the best of Hawk’s knowledge, Kreese had met Demetri one time, and that had ended with him getting a broken nose. Hawk scrolled through his contacts, but it wasn’t as though Hawk could call Johnny, Miguel mentioned how he’d apparently thrown his phone into the sea—a ridiculous statement if it were in reference to literally anyone other than Johnny. As he debated what to do, he happened to glance up from his phone and see a forklift pull into the aisle. The machinery was clearly too big for the section.

Hawk dug his heels in the ground to avoid bumping into it and covered his ears. The forklift started to make an ungodly beeping sound, seemingly in time with Hawk noticing it. Did machinery always make that kind of noise? That’s when he glanced into the cab and noticed a familiar man sitting inside—Stingray. He thought the ex-Cobra had just up and vanished shortly after the school fight landed him a restraining order. Guess the hardware store was really short staffed…

An announcement came over the speaker system to keep out of aisle four for incoming construction—which was the aisle Hawk was currently standing in. The forklift was blocking most of one end of the aisle, and Hawk had a bad feeling about trying to squeeze past it, so he turned heel and walked back down the other way. He didn’t make it far, as shortly after Kreese and Tory ducked under the caution tape and into the aisle. His shoulders sagged for a moment, but then he straightened out and continued walking forward. They were on security cameras  _ and  _ in public, it’s not like his old teammate and teacher could do anything.

Hawk pressed himself to one side of the aisle and avoided eye contact as he briskly walked past. His hands were balled into tight fists and he was holding his breath, hoping this was all some stupid coincidence and they wouldn’t even try to talk to him. He just had to get to where there were more people, the busy paint section with Demetri his ideal goal. He glanced up at where he had seen the blinking light of a security camera earlier, to reassure himself, and his eyes widened. The light of the camera was off. There were no mechanical eyes above them and no other witnesses within the aisle, so that’s when Kreese acted. 

Once Hawk took a step past him, his former sensei gripped onto him by the scruff of his collar and threw him into the opposing side’s scaffolding. Hawk shook the shelf as he hit it hard, a few porcelain lamps and loose bulbs crashed to the ground around him. He flinched away from the breaking appliances, covering his head. Hawk pushed himself back to his feet, but as he turned to run a lamp was smashed into the scaffolding next to him. He stepped away from it and was immediately pinned back to the scaffolding by Kreese’s hand. He locked eyes with Tory, who stood slightly away and she looked shocked by her sensei’s actions. But she quickly narrowed her eyes and smirked towards him.

“Away from the dojo a few weeks and already walking past the enemy with your head down.” Kreese sneered. The forklift's beeping may have been loud, but Kreese was close enough that Hawk could hear his every word. Kreese’s fingers dug deeper into Hawk’s neck, and he could feel a steadily increasing pressure in his lungs. “Here I thought that maybe my lessons would stay drilled into your head, even when you weren’t at my practices. Looks like the effort I put into you was a waste.”

“Effort?” Hawk managed to spit out. Kreese loosened his hold and let him speak, curious more than anything else. Hawk gasped out a few breaths and said, “You were always looking for your next champion. You never cared about me. If you had, you wouldn’t have recruited Kyler, since that douchebag is the reason Cobra Kai was reopened in the first place.” That was new information for Tory. She had learned through context about Hawk’s problems with Kyler, but didn’t know that he’d been the bully that first inspired Johnny to train Miguel.

“Do you still not see?” Kreese hissed, “Kyler was recruited for your benefit. If you can dominate the people you showed a weakness to, you can beat anyone.”

“Fucking bullshit.” Hawk retorted, and he was surprised that he could talk to Kreese like that. Perhaps it was due to the lightheadedness he was feeling. Kreese may have stopped applying pressure, but he still felt the fingers wrapped around his throat. “You didn’t know I knew them when they got recruited, you just wanted your natural athletes. You even said as much yourself. Too bad for you, Kyler has nothing else going for him. He’s as stupid as a newborn with no mind for strategy. ” Hawk meant to finish there, but the words wouldn’t stop pouring out of his mouth. “But maybe that’s what you want, people whose intelligence compares to your own.”

Insulting Kreese’s intelligence appeared to be the line even Hawk didn’t realize he would cross and the pressure came back all at once, too strong for him to continue talking. Tory noticed.

“Sensei,” She said, her eyebrows knit behind Kreese. “Aren’t there security cameras here? Should you really be—”

“I think you’ll find that the cameras aren’t functioning right now, a simple technical error.” Kreese said. Hawk’s knees were feeling weak, and there were black spots forming in his blurring vision. As Hawk sensed his consciousness slipping, Kreese let him go. Hawk fell forward, and Kreese stepped to the side to let him crash onto the ground. Still semi-conscious, Hawk’s hands instinctively reached out to catch himself, and they caught on the lamp shards.

Kreese kicked out Hawk’s arm and he collapsed, pain spiking throughout the limb. Kreese landed another kick to his ribs and he skidded across the ground. Tory opened her mouth to speak up when she saw the blood streaks on the floor, but just as quickly shut it.

“If you don't already regret your betrayal Mr. Moskowitz, you will come to.” Kreese said, leaning over him. “Today was strictly by chance, can you imagine what’ll happen next time? Let’s go, Ms. Nichols.”

Kreese stepped down harshly onto Hawk’s outstretched hand when he walked past him. Hawk started to curl in on himself, but with a small groan he stopped moving. Tory realized he must have passed out, and kept glancing back at him as they moved down the aisle.

“Are we still getting what we came for?” She asked. Kreese had told her they’d be starting to break two by fours at the dojo, and that was the reason they were at the store, right? It’s not like Kreese knew they’d run into Ha— _ a traitor _ .

“Another day.” Kreese said. They left the aisle and were near the exit, but Tory’s eyes scanned through the store, certain the boy wouldn’t have come alone—maybe Miguel was here. Eventually, she locked eyes with Demetri, who was debating between brush sizes. Demetri’s hands dropped and the brushes clattered to the floor. Tory waited until Kreese left through the automatic doors before walking over to him.

“Don’t run.” She said, as he looked ready to bolt. She stuck her hands up, relaxed and open. “I just wanted to say that you should go to aisle four.”

“Wh—” Demetri started. Aisle four was where an earlier announcement specifically said not to go. Where he was certain that awful and persistent beeping noise was coming from.

“ _ Now _ .” Tory growled. She then turned and walked out of the store. As she stepped through the doors, Kreese was staring at her, and she made sure not to look behind her to see if the Miyagi-Do student had bothered listening to her.

Demetri was confused, but he complied with Tory’s suggestion. He's just peek down the end of the aisle on his way to go find where Eli was. Demetri knew he'd want to know about seeing Tory. When he glanced down aisle four, he first saw the forklift. The driver saw him as well, turned off the beeping sound, and backed out the opposing end. Demetri shrugged and went to turn away, but then his eyes trailed down, and caught sight of a familiar figure sprawled on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had debated for a while with making Tory be the one to attack him, but I find it more interesting with her feeling more conflicted. She sees Kreese as her I guess savior for what he did to her landlord, but she also knows that this was probably out of line.
> 
> I was also originally going to have Daniel walk in while Kreese was hurting Hawk, but then I realized that Daniel would 100% hunt the man down and had to push him out of the scene, so enter Demetri.
> 
> Johnny, Miguel, and Sam will all be brought into the next chapter to find out what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where the medical inaccuracy tags come in. Sorry @any med student/professional/enthusiast reading this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any time I need to be writing something, is great for the WIPs I have on here. Terrible for the thing I need to be doing, but great for these stories. Though it doesn't necessarily produce great stories...

Most of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang went straight to the LaRusso house after school. Johnny was going to have them run drills and spar before Mr. LaRusso returned in tow with the supplies to build the shelves. In Johnny’s own words, “We should at least try to get some  _ real  _ karate in today.”

When they reached the sparring portion, Johnny allowed them to take out their phones to record matches—it was argued that was how they could best see their own mistakes without having to pull focus from the match. 

Miguel was about to record a match between Mitch and Sam—one that Mitch had been dreading—but was surprised to see a call coming in from Demetri. 

“Sorry, uhh. One sec.”

“Really?” Sam said at the same time Mitch let out a sigh and said, “No man, take your time.”

“Hey, Demetri. Is everything alright?” Miguel answered. The first thing he noticed was the sound of a siren in the background of the call.

“Mr. LaRusso’s phone is still off, so I called you.” Demetri said. Mr. LaRusso recently started turning his phone off in both dealership meetings and at training. Something he and his wife agreed to in order to have more balance between work and dojo.

“Are you with Sensei Lawrence right now?” Demetri continued, and Miguel could tell that Demetri sounded stressed.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Sam stopped trying to convince Mitch to start fighting her and came over to Miguel. He shifted so she could also listen to the call while Mitch took his chance to back out of the spar and go see how Chris's fight was going.

“Tell him to get to the West Valley Hospital. Eli’s mom is out of town, mine isn’t really on good terms with him, and I just don’t know who else would come. I’m in an ambulance with him and he—” Demetri cut himself off. “I don’t know what. He wasn’t moving and there was glass everywhere and just—get to the hospital.”

“What?” Miguel gasped. 

“I—I can’t repeat all that.” Demetri said. “Just hurry. The ambulance just arrived at the hospital, I have to go.”

“Demetri, wait.” Miguel said, but his friend had already hung up the phone.

Miguel and Sam stared at each other with mirrored wide eyes. He yelled for Johnny as they ran over to him.

* * *

In the hospital waiting room, they found Demetri sitting alone in one of the chairs. His hands were clenched tightly together around a bloody flannel, and he was tapping his foot rapidly. It took a moment for him to respond when Sam and Miguel called for him. He looked up and his eyes went straight to Johnny.

“Can you ask the front desk how he’s doing?” He asked. “They’ll only tell family or guardians. None of whom are available at the moment. You’re his teacher so that has to count for something, right?” Eli’s mom was on a two week emergency business trip, one with very minimal cell reception. To not worry her, Eli had lied and said he’d be staying at Demetri’s house for that period of time, so Demetri knew something bad was bound to happen. He just thought it would be when Eli inevitably threw a party that weekend—not on a Tuesday afternoon at a hardware store. 

Johnny started towards the front desk. After a few feet he turned back and opened his mouth.

“He’d be under the name Eli Moskowitz.” Miguel said. Johnny turned back around and continued towards the desk. Demetri sat back down in the chair, still nervous, but slightly less tense.

Sam sat next to him and gently coaxed the bloody flannel out of his hands.

“Isn’t this yours?” She asked, “Are you—are you also hurt anywhere?” Demetri shook his head.

“When I found him, there was some glass in his arms and legs, specifically his hands and knees. A cut on his wrist looked bad and I was worried that he might… so I just pressed that onto it.” Demetri nodded at the flannel. “At first there was an employee there, in a forklift. But he just kept backing away. He didn’t get out or try to help at all. I know he saw Eli, but he still just left. Someone’s bleeding out on the floor in front of him, unconscious, and the guy leaves.”

Miguel's frown deepened, “You guys were at the one off main, right?” 

Demetri nodded.

“Did that employee have a braided beard?” Miguel asked, “Or did anything about him scream 80s rocker stereotype?”

“I don’t know Miguel, I had a few other concerns at the moment.” Demetri snapped.

“Sorry, it’s just that someone in Cobra Kai—uhh, Stingray—used to work at that store.” Miguel explained.

“I remember Eli mentioning something similar, but he made it sound like the dude had been fired or quit.”

“You think Cobra Kai did this?” Sam asked. It had been on her mind, of course. Cobra Kai had been silent ever since the fight last December, she had just expected something... bigger.

“That was never in question.” Demetri said, shaking his head. When Miguel and Sam simultaneously tilted their heads, he said. “Right. I forgot to mention that how I found Eli to begin with, was  _ Tory  _ telling me where he was.”

“Tory did this?” Miguel asked, and Sam paled.

“She was the only one I saw there, well except potentially that Stingray guy I guess.” Demetri said. He thought back to his last encounter with Tory and dumped his head into his hands. 

“Demetri.” Sam said worriedly when he started groaning. He lifted his head out of his hands high enough to speak.

“At your house I even told her that Eli didn’t need to watch his back because we were there.” He said, “Some lie that fucking was.”

“Hey, you can’t blame yourself for this.” Miguel said. “None of us would have predicted that they’d try something in some random public store.  _ Especially  _ Tory, who’s still on probation.”

“Exactly!” Sam gasped, standing up. “They did this in public, there must be security cameras right? If there is even a glimpse of her hurting him or just breaking store property, she’ll go to juvie.” Miguel nodded hesitantly. Part of him wanted to still have hope for Tory, but they were long past the idea of a second chance.

“Yeah, good idea.” He said. Demetri however, was just remembering the urgency in Tory’s voice when she told him about Eli. Why would she be concerned if she had been the one to do it? Maybe it went further than she meant it to and she regretted it.

“I’m going to call my dad, and tell him to get access to the cameras.” Sam said. She had sent him a few texts explaining the situation so he’d see it after his meeting, but there was no point in him waiting with them at the hospital if he could actively be doing something. His meeting should be wrapped up by now.

“Okay.” Miguel said, but Demetri just looked at where Johnny was talking to reception. “See, we’ll know what happened soon enough.”

”I’d rather Eli just be able to tell us himself.” Demetri said, “What’s taking Sensei Lawrence so long?”

As if on cue, Johnny walked back over to the teenagers.

“It won’t be long until we can see him, half an hour at most.” Johnny said. “But, they put him under anesthesia so it will be a few hours until he actually wakes up. Lowball is ninety minutes, if his metabolism is fast. Maybe we should all head home and come back when he—”

“You can leave if you want.” Demetri interrupted, “But I’m not letting him wake up alone. I don’t want him to feel more left behind than he already will.”

Miguel looked to be deep in thought for a moment, “I’m staying too. When I woke up from my coma, I was terrified. A bunch of doctors and nurses were hanging over me, saying a bunch of words I didn’t really understand. My mom was in the room within five minutes, but that image still lingers in my head.”

“Fine. I guess a responsible adult should stay around here too.” Johnny sighed.

“Oh, is Mr. LaRusso here?” Miguel tried to joke. He deemed it a success when Demetri covered up a snort.

* * *

Two hours later, Hawk’s eyes fluttered open. He wasn’t really sure what had happened. He felt parched and dazed, like he’d been stranded in the ocean for a week. At first all he saw was white. He blinked his eyes tightly to focus them and an image of Kreese flashed through his mind. He jolted upwards, into a seating position. The action caused him to groan, as there was a sharp pain in his side. He moved his hand to hold onto it, and that’s when he noticed the splint.

“Whoa there.” A voice said. “Hey Eli.” Ah, must have been Demetri. “The doctors say no sudden movements. You have a broken rib or two, and also don’t want to tear your stitches.”

“What happened?” Hawk mumbled. Everything was slowly coming back to him. Eventually his eyes were able to process his surroundings. He was in a hospital room, with Demetri on his left side and a snoring Johnny in the corner.

“Do you—” Demetri grew increasingly concerned. “Do you not remember?”

“No, I—” Hawk saw another flash of Kreese. “I’m starting to.” He lifted a hand up to the bruise marks on his neck. “Do you have any water?”

As Demetri passed him a plastic bottle, Miguel walked into the room with a precarious pile of snacks balanced on top of a coffee cup that looked about ready to fall. “Alright, they didn’t have Coors Banquet—because of course they wouldn’t, duh—but they had some good chip options, as well as coffee with tons of caffeine.” He looked up from the stash and saw that Hawk was awake. He carefully placed the coffee down on a side table, and then dumped the rest of the food on top of Johnny as he ran to Hawk’s bedside, waking their sensei up.

“Hawk!” Miguel said, “How ar—no, stupid question. Nevermind.”

“How long have I been out?” Hawk asked.

“Over two hours.” Johnny said, standing up from the chair. The snacks all fell to the ground and Johnny stepped directly on them as he walked over. “Look, kid. I know you’re probably tired as hell, but we need to know what happened.” Johnny’s eyes were focused on the finger shaped bruises the whole time he talked. He felt he might be piecing it together, but he really didn’t want to be right.

“I saw them and I—” Hawk stopped for a moment and averted his eyes. He was starting to feel embarrassed. “I ran, sensei. Or at least I tried to, but I think they set up a trap. Stingray was already guarding the end, and the cameras on that aisle were turned off.”

“You’re sure—I mean you could tell?” Miguel asked. He was thinking about Sam. She was in the hall talking to her dad, both wondering why the store’s surveillance system had been no help.

“Yeah, there’s a sensor that blinks whenever the camera’s on.” Hawk explained. “By the time I realized there wasn’t a light, Kreese was already slamming me into the scaffolding. It’s a bit blurry after that, my vision was spotty.”

“So Kreese did this.” Johnny said. He had a scowl on his face and his hands were clenched at his side, seething in rage. But he wasn’t surprised, it never felt worse to be right.

“He said that he was going to make me regret ‘betraying’ him.” Hawk admitted. “That there'd be—” That there would be a next time. That’s what Hawk wanted to say, but the words caught in his throat and his skin started to prickle.

“What was Tory doing there?” Miguel asked. He had to know how much of this had been her.

“How did you—” Hawk frowned. How did they know Tory had been there at all? “She didn’t really do anything. Just kind of stood back and watched. I wasn’t really focused on her at the time.”

“Right, of course.” Miguel said, and he sounded sort of relieved.

“She told me where to find you.” Demetri added. The urgency in her voice made a bit more sense to Demetri, but nothing else did. Tory had practically sworn vengeance the last time they saw her, yet now she was being a bystander and telling on her sensei.

A nurse stopped by the door and let them know that visiting hours were ending. 

“Wait, am I staying here overnight?” Hawk asked Johnny. He didn’t like hospitals. He also didn’t know how much the insurance plan he was under would cover, and figured his mom didn’t need a bigger bill than she’d already get when she returned.

“Uh, I’m not sure.” Johnny shrugged. “I’ll go find your doctor.” Johnny left the room. He had still looked angry, and Miguel hoped he didn’t use that as an excuse to go confront Kreese. Johnny hadn’t looked too good after the last time he had done so.

“If you’re allowed to leave, where would you stay? You shouldn’t be home alone.” Demetri said. Normally he’d offer up his own house, but his mom still wasn’t too keen on their rekindled friendship—and she didn’t even know the bulk of Eli’s time in Cobra Kai. It was just the  _ mohawk _ that concerned her. She’d let him come in of course, but the passive aggression would be too much to handle for the night.

“He’s welcome to spend the night at my house.” Mr. LaRusso said from the door, Sam was peeking in from beside him. The two had walked over as Johnny walked out.

“Thank you, sir.” Hawk said awkwardly. He looked past towards Sam. “But I can’t ask that of you. I don’t really think I’d be—”

“It’s alright.” Sam said, stepping into the room. She sounded sure of herself, but her arms were crossed and her eyes were unable to meet his. “We know your mom’s out of town. Might as well be somewhere you can have a home cooked dinner. Can’t imagine leftovers and protein bars are doing you much good.” Hawk looked more uncomfortable with Sam being nice to him than he had anytime she’d snap at him in the middle of training. He didn’t like being pitied. It reminded him of counselor Blatt’s false sympathies when the bullying had first been reported to her. But Demetri had been right, he didn’t want to be in an empty house. It was just for one night anyways, and only if he got discharged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will be both sympathetic to Sam and Tory because even though this is a karate show I say people don't need to fight all the time. I'm aware that Kreese also has complexities to him and why he acts the way he does. But it doesn't change the fact that he keeps unnecessarily hurting teenagers in canon so... villain it is?
> 
> Hawk is going to the LaRussos mainly to mend things with Sam and because I feel like Daniel would be more likely to open up about more of the less than savory Kreese moments from the 80s. Just because Johnny is a "you must be a level 4 friend to unlock my tragic backstory" kind of guy while Daniel will just suddenly go "back when I was a wee lad".
> 
> Any character from CK or KK could potentially appear in the future, which I might have said last chapter but I'm frankly too lazy/tired to check right now.


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